Britain

Bob Crow

SOME people would resent being treated as the pantomime villain of London politics. Not Bob Crow, who died early this morning. The leader of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) loved to ham up his tough, uncompromising image: the theatrical scowl, the flat cap, the jabbing finger. He was one of the most obdurate of the socialist "Awkward Squad" of union bosses; never shying from the public opprobrium that came with calling strikes paralysing London's public transport network.

Banking

“I KNOW nothing about banking,” piped up a nervous focus-group participant. “But it does need to be much simpler—not everyone is a Harvard graduate who can understand the fine print.” Thus began a focus group held by MyBnk, a financial charity, at its headquarters in Brick Lane, east London. Close to Bangladeshi curry houses and hipster bars, 16- to 24-year-olds had gathered to talk about the most unlikely of youth subjects: banking.

Just before the group convened, a rule was laid down: do not mention the financial crisis. The organisers were keen to avoid contaminating the discussion with the concerns of journalists and industry executives.

Stephen Lawrence and the police

MORE than two decades on, questions persist about the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old black student stabbed as he waited for a London bus, and the way in which the police handled the case. A landmark inquiry published in 1999 found that the Metropolitan Police at the time was "institutionally racist". But the Lawrence family has long claimed that the investigation into Stephen’s death was marred not just by incompetence and racism, but also corruption.

Patient data

OVER 300m people around the world have type 2 diabetes, a disease that damages the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. Preventing the illness would be a boon to global health. Researchers may have just taken the first step in that direction. After sifting through the genomic and medical data of 150,000 people in America, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, they found mutations in a gene that protects people from getting the disease.

Medical data have the potential to unlock cures. They can also help officials to improve health systems. The numbers often reveal the most efficient methods of care. They can reveal anomalies, too.

Britain and Ukraine

“STOP the War” is a coalition of British left-wing groups established in 2001 to campaign against the Iraq War. The organisation has often been accused of being sympathetic towards (or at least, conspicuously quiet about) despotic foreign leaders with the good grace to be non-Western. Its response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, issued earlier today, does little to rebut that criticism. In it, Lindsey German, the group’s convenor, sets out ten things to remember about the current crisis. The list is reproduced below, with your correspondent’s comments.

1) Who is the aggressor? The obvious answer seems to be that it is Russia, but that is far from the whole picture.

Price of holidays outside school term time

THE inflated price of “half-term” holidays is a common gripe. (British school years are split into three terms each of which has a one-week spring break-like “half term” in the middle.) The grievance is so widespread that an online petition, signed by over 160,000 people, sparked a parliamentary debate on the subject on February 24th. Although the government rejected regulating the industry, the price hikes are genuine and big. Our analysis suggests that the average mark-up on a trip during the school break is about 60%. The increase in costs is greater for trips to more exotic locations, like Turkey and Tunisia, where it almost doubles.

Angela Merkel in London

MUCH has been written in recent years about America's retreat from the world stage. Books like "The Frugal Superpower" by Michael Mandelbaum, "The Limits of Power" by Andrew Bacevich and "The Dispensable Nation" by Vali Nasr all chart the country's inward turn and its reluctance, relative to previous decades, to wield influence on the world stage. Mr Nasr even claims that American foreign policy is now “completely subservient to tactical domestic political considerations.” Today's speech by Angela Merkel to MPs and Lords was a reminder that, these days, much of the same can be said about Britain.

Immigration

THE net migration numbers for the year ending September 2013 have just been released by the Office for National Statistics. They show that one of the coalition government’s boldest policies has been an embarrassing failure. This is excellent news.

Net migration (immigration minus emigration) is estimated to have reached 212,000 in the year to last September. This is higher than in the previous year, and far higher than the “tens of thousands” David Cameron, the prime minister, once promised; there is now no prospect of that target being hit this side of the May 2015 general election.

The Economist/Ipsos-MORI Issues Index

After January’s dead heat between the economy and race and immigration as issues facing the nation, this month’s index shows that disquiet about the latter has fallen by seven percentage points. The economy is uncontested as the most important issue facing Britons once again at 39%. Still, this is its lowest level since the start of the financial crisis.

Following Michael Gove’s renewed push to invigorate academic standards in schools, it is little surprise to see that the public have reacted with a two percent rise in worry about education, with one in six stating it as a concern. The proportions are highest in the north of England and Scotland, at 24%.

The economics of Scottish independence

LIKE most things in politics, referendums often raise more questions than they answer. And the ballot due to be held on Scottish independence this September is no exception to this rule. As we point out in this week’s print edition, several awkward questions over the financial consequences of Scottish independence have been raised this week. Will an independent Scotland be allowed to remain in the sterling area, or if not, would it honour its share of Britain's national debt? Might the new country not be allowed to join the European Union?

Tony’s Blair’s troubles

TONY BLAIR has had a bad few weeks. He has been "arrested" for crimes against peace for the fifth time since a website, “Arrest Blair”, started offering a bounty in 2010 to any citizen willing to give this a go. He has been dragged into an embarrassing investigation into the breakup of Rupert Murdoch’s marriage to Wendi Deng (according to Vanity Fair, she had formed a deep crush on the former prime minister). Then on February 19th he cropped up in the trial of Rebekah Brooks, a former tabloid newspaper editor and chief executive of Mr Murdoch’s News International, who is charged with tapping phones and other offenses.

Welfare and religion

THE POOR we have always with us. What to do about them has pre-occupied church leaders, since Thomas Aquinas in his 13th century tract “Summa Theologica” issued instructions that society should shoulder the burden of redistribution: ”Whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor.”

More controversial today is how generous a welfare state tax payers should support. Vincent Nichols, the most senior Roman Catholic clergyman in England and Wales, rode into the argument about entitlements on February 15th with a broadside against the coalition’s welfare reforms.

Scottish nationalism

THIS week George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, and Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, all declared their opposition to a currency union with an independent Scotland. Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party, dismissed this three-pronged assault as “bluff, bluster and posturing”. He also hinted plainly that Scotland would refuse to take its share of the national debt if it were prevented from sharing sterling and the Bank of England.

Commentators (such as our Bagehot) sensed the ground moving. Something seemed to have happened to the debate over Scottish independence. But what, exactly?

Wythenshawe and Sale East

Labour won a stonking victory in the Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election yesterday. The result was unsurprising (the seat is in the suburbs of Manchester and is solid red) but the 11% swing to the party nevertheless delighted campaign bosses. For a while it had looked like UKIP, a populist anti-EU outfit, would come close to winning its first MP. The party attempted to portray Labour as metropolitan and out of touch—unsuccessfully, the outcome suggested.

Most of all, the by-election is being seen as a vindication of “community campaigning.